The present application relates to a vehicle seat, and in particular to a displaceable head restraint for a vehicle seat.
A head restraint for a vehicle seat includes at least one subsection which faces the head of the seat occupant, and may be displaced, because of an accident, from a use position towards the head of the seat occupant into a safety position under the action of a drive device.
Various examples of displaceable head restraints are known such as the head restraint disclosed in the publication DE 199 23 909 A1 which consists of a base body rigidly connected to the backrest of the vehicle seat via retaining bars. In the event of an accident, the padded segment is moved in a translatory manner towards the head of the seat occupant in order to prevent a whiplash effect. The force required therefor is produced by a spring pretensioned in the direction of displacement within a telescopic guide device. Another example of a head restraint is disclosed in the published patent specification DE 39 00 495 A1 in which a padded segment may be pivoted forward relative to the base body about a fixed axis of rotation, in the event of an accident. A spring-loaded piston/cylinder arrangement is used as a drive device in combination with a supporting lever, in which the piston rod is articulated to the base body in the region of the axis of rotation and the cylinder is articulated to the padded segment. Still another example of a head restraint is further disclosed in the publication DE 199 41 712 C1, in which a displaceable padded element is connected to the base body via a scissor-like mechanism, so that the padded element may be moved forward from a resting position into a use position. Yet another example of a head restraint is disclosed in the publication DE 10 2004 016 474 B3. In this example, subsections of the head restraint are moved apart in a telescopic manner in order to adopt a safety position of the head restraint.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a head restraint that controls movement of the first subsection of the head rest counter to the direction of displacement.